Rogues and Heroes Meme
by CampionSayn
Summary: As the title states, this is a meme that follows drabbles for Gotham's new generation of heroes and villians. Multiple pairings inside.
1. Waves of Blood

**Title: Rogues and Heroes Meme.  
Disclaimer: If I really owned these characters, there would be a lot of problems… So no, I don't own Batman Beyond.  
Warnings: Odd pairings galore, mentions of smex, may be slash, etc. You have been warned.  
Summary: Drabbles that ping-pong among the new rogues and heroes of Gotham, from childhood to adulthood.**

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_Without our flaws, faults and foibles, we would be less lovable. Much less lovable. –Sark._

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**32 Flavors- Ani DiFranco:**

Big blue eyes looked over the old, yellowed papers found in the house that Deidre and Delia had grown up in since they were born. They were hidden under the planks that made up the floor of Nanna Harley's room and read like a journal written by someone who had been through heaven and hell.

Deidre, admittedly, had not told her sister that she had come to the house to sort through their grandmother's belongings alone. She didn't think Delia would really care, but Deidre had to be sure that there was nothing here that Delia could use against Harley's memory.

Turns out, there was a lot. Their grandmother had a secret life they had known nothing about. Deidre intended to keep it that way as far as Delia was concerned. Harley's secrets, and in some cases, the _first_ Batman's secrets, the first generation Rogues of Gotham and a large portion of the members of the Justice League's secrets would remain just that. Secrets. Dee Dee could do that for Harley Quinn.

**Blue Moon:**

Melanie stared up uncertainly at the young man who was much taller than her. The umbrella in his hand was a welcomed reprieve from the rain that had been pouring on her and the bench she had been sitting on for an hour or so. Damn train was late as usual, but this was new.

The young man was at least six and a half feet tall, dark and wearing a black trench coat that amplified his mystique as he stood over with a serious look on his face. It almost reminded the former Ten of the Royal Flush Gang, of Batman whenever he caught her.

"I'm afraid that if you're waiting for the train," The young man spoke, his voice as thick as she supposed it would be, "It won't be showing tonight. It broke down uptown an hour ago."

Melanie's big blue eyes rolled with a sigh. Go figure the above ground horror would breakdown during one of the few nights it rained in summer.

"Thank you for telling me, Mr…?

"Oh, sorry," He apologized, offering her a hand so she could get out of the puddle the bench had formed, "I'm Rex. It's nice to meet you, Melanie."

Accepting the hand, the blond girl didn't exactly register that the man knew her name when she hadn't told it to him until she was standing a foot shy of his chest and blinking up at him, "….I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

"No, but you know Terry. I'm an acquaintance of his."

"…Oh."

**Bluebell:**

Large, sharp teeth were exposed as Woof watched the Chimera institutes' favorite pets talk with Chucko and Ghoul about an intended target for a joint operation among the top Jokerz and Splicers.

Woof didn't like it. Dr. Cuvier had been one of the factors that led to Woof's current condition. The man didn't know it, but one of his old acquaintances had shot Woof up with too high a dose of hyena serum and hadn't checked to see if it was experimental or not. It was, and now Woof was stuck like this forever. Not that the doctor would really care if he ever found out. It didn't mean that the hybrid had to like the lot of them being there, though.

"You know, my dear," Cuvier spoke lightly towards Deidre, Woof turning his head to get a better look at the man who was at the moment running a clawed finger over the younger clown girl's arm, "I hope you don't mind my saying so, but I think you'd be perfect for the latest batch of snow hare serum I just brought in. Would you be interested?"

Deidre flinched under the man's touch, but kept her false smile in place, "Sounds tempting, but no thanks. It wouldn't match my wardrobe."

Woof couldn't help the snort that left him to be accompanied by laughter at the man's face. The hyena boy always liked it when the doctor failed at something, even more so when he got a close up look.

Cuvier still tried to get one of the twins to try out his latest formula, though. All night long he made little suggestions towards Delia and Deidre, but neither one of them took the bait. Delia seemed interested, asking if he had anything in march hare, but nothing serious. Woof was glad, he wouldn't admit to liking the girls at all, but if he did, he preferred them without fur or fangs. Lord only knew what he'd do to the man if he tried anything on them.

**Are We Having Fun Yet?:**  
It would take a very long, exhausting time, filled with murmured endearments and expensive gifts bought from hard earned (more or less) money, but Terry was pretty sure he could get Dana to forgive him.

True, he had forgotten their anniversary _and_ her birthday and was most likely going to suffer for it forever and ever amen, but when it came down to it, he was pretty sure she loved him enough to _eventually_ accept his apologies. Max said he was worrying over nothing and that he was blowing the situation way out of proportion, but if he _didn't _Dana would actually think he'd forgotten she even existed. Better to prostrate before the girl now, then be out in the world alone later.

And besides, Max didn't know that he did feel as bad, and worse, than he said. He left Dana waiting at a classy dance club alone for several hours before he'd even remembered to call and tell her to cancel plans for the day _after_, when he thought it was their anniversary. Who doesn't get the fifteenth and the fourteenth of October mixed up? ...Okay, anyone who's not a man?

To top off that little incident, Bruce, former caped crusader himself, had the young man go to Japan to hunt down that son of a bitch Blight before he kidnapped an acquaintance of the old man's. Thus leaving Dana alone _again_ to wait in a more disco oriented club with nothing but a Virgin Mary and a chocolate explosion fudge pie with a completely melted birthday candle, compliments of the house.

He actually has the balls to judge her for not borrowing one of Chelsea's cars and running him over.

**Gold Punch Buggy:**

"Oh for the love of… Where did you even get this tired piece of trash?"

Despite Bonk's sarcasm, nothing could spoil Ghoul's mood as he hung off the front of the car he'd swiped from a vacant lot. A tan and gold 1970's Vista Cruiser! And it was his now! One would have thought that a person with a national treasure like this would keep it in a vault or somewhere safe, but it was just idling next to the cinema practically begging to be stolen.

"Who cares?" Ghoul snorted, still hugging the car's front end like it was a giant puppy on wheels. The effect left most of the other Jokerz cringing. Ghoul didn't really _get_ happy.

**Don' Worry, Be Happy:**

"Oooh!" J-Man squealed as Chucko unfolded before the Clown Prince-wannabe a genuine collector's item among most of the new generation rogues of Gotham. The actual laughing gas bazooka the Joker used a few dozen days back in his prime. It was a little dusty on account of being in the storage of the GPD's evidence room for so long, but it was still fully functional and just as lethal.

The teen ran his gloved hands over the shell of the weapon in wonder before looking back up at the white mask that served permanently as the round man's face.

"How much?"

Chucko gave a loose, phlegm filled chuckle at the younger male's eagerness but he already had the price set, "Two-hundred thousand. Plus three of the actual laughing gas bombs it comes with. Take it or leave it."

J-Man wasted no time in closing the deal. By the end of the hour, he had the bazooka, the gas bombs and a very happy smile that would make his face hurt later. Chucko left with all the money promised and the guarantee of being contacted again for his services. None of the others of his own gang knew of his dealings with the other Jokerz of Gotham, but that was alright. What they didn't know wouldn't lead to them getting greedy.

**Pimpin'- Hollywood Undead:**

With all the sex appeal Wonder Woman would envy, Inque moved through the mass of writhing bodies stirring to the incessant beat around them and over to her client. Lucky for everyone in the general area, he actually wore his synthetic skin that made him look like his normal self. Although, quite frankly, in this mass of teenagers, hookers and drug dealers, he probably would have drawn less attention of he was glowing green. Slimy businessmen belonged uptown stuffing themselves with bite sized French food and expensive liquor.

"Mr. Powers," Inque greeted pleasantly enough, accepting the glass of wine he had kept at the far corner of his table so as not to affect it, "I'm a little surprised you asked us to meet here. This isn't exactly your element."

"No," Powers replied lightly, "It isn't. But that simply means we'll be left alone and nobody I know will actually see me talking to a hired gun. Besides," Powers grinned, "The music isn't half bad when all you here generally is Bach and Mozart."

**A Difference in Opinions:**

"Come on Dee Dee, the Joker was the best of all the Rogues of Gotham! He practically has a cult following now, years after his death!"

"Dee Dee, that's just not true. He was more or less just walking toxic waste, who beat up his long time girlfriend on a regular basis and had a fascination with the first Batman that was borderline homosexual!"

Bonk wasn't one to get mixed up in any conversations between any members of his team besides Chucko, if anything he simply turned up the volume on the television, but when it came to the Deeds, he made it a point to be in the room in the tiny event that they should get into a real catfight.

Tonight, that really didn't seem like it was going to happen.

Delia had spoken one of her night fantasies out loud and started speaking the Joker's praises to her sister. For once, Deidre didn't want to hear it. Instead of just ignoring her sister, she started in on all the reasons why Delia was wrong to follow the ideals of that particular Rogue.

'_You'd think she'd have at least one nice thing to say about him,_' The bald headed muscle thought absently, '_She is one of the Jokerz after all.'_

Bonk was, truthfully, not an observant guy, but after spending months listening to the feminine clowns, he had gotten to know them pretty well and he stored away small tid-bits of information on them if he felt it could be useful for black-mail. The info proved to be useless as of yet, but he had hopes.

Sitting in the living room the Jokerz had made within the Jolly Jack candy warehouse, Bonk had come to observe that the twins may have been identical on the outside all around, but on the inside, their personalities were as different as night and day.

Delia was the obvious extroverted, social butterfly. She had hooked up with almost all the attractive Jokerz in town on a whim, except Ghoul of course (the guy had "morals" apparently) and was quite the fighter on her own merits. She adored everything about the original Joker. His looks, his voice, his personality, his deadly slyness, etc. Bonk was willing to bet money that she had become a thief and criminal just because she'd watched an old documentary on the guy. She rarely, if ever, took off her make-up and outfit and as a result had been dubbed by most of the males that ran in their circles as Joker's Daughter. This was the one thing she was totally and unequivocally proud of.

Deidre, the tall strong man had come to realize, was the exact opposite. She felt nothing but contempt for most of the things the original Joker stood for and had come to wish pain and suffering on Delia's new boy toy, J-Man, because of that. Whenever she caught the wannabe Clown Prince in their warehouse, she bribed Woof to chase him out, or did it on her own with a heavy mallet she'd gotten from who knew where. She hated wearing her make-up and outfit for long periods and actually really liked wearing outfits Bonk remembered seeing on very old shows. If he listened hard enough, he also took note that she only cared about three things; her sister, their Jokerz group and her grandmother. Everything else was immaterial. In fact, the one time he ever saw her lash out at two of the things she cared about, was when Delia wanted to introduce J-Man to their Nanna Harley and Chucko wanted to meet the old woman as well.

Bonk remembered that particular fight vividly. He still had the recording of it in his room, under the floor boards, in a box, locked in chains. He only took it out when he was sure he was alone and unlikely to get walked in on doing… stuff. It was truly the most awesome fight ever to take place in the history of the world. It was the very definition of a catfight. Bonk vaguely made a mental note to have someone bury the recording with him…

Whoops, he had to leave the couch now. It wouldn't do to let them see him get excited over something in his head.

**Good Boy:**

Absently, Woof wondered if a few dozen racks of lamb were worth all the trouble of going through this. He didn't like J-Man, not even a little. But taking a bribe of promised food to slash his tires and steel the money he had hidden in the old Gotham herald building was a little extreme.

Oh well. He'd already slashed the tires while the guy was screwing Delia in the even older Gotham police station, might as well go all the way with the money.

**Waves of Blood:**

Standing amidst the bloody bodies of the police stupid enough to get in her way, Tigress relished in the scent of the red fluids on the ground, on her clothes and on her hands. Dr. Cuvier was right, the hunt was all well and good, but the kill was all the more satisfying.

Holding her hand up to her lips, she licked off the extra blood, body heating up at the taste on her newly developed sense in taste and smiled wickedly. These small fries were wonderful appetizers, but the DA was the main course. Time to get down to business.

**Feels Like Rain:**

The cold air blended with the scent of dead leaves around her ankles and Max enjoyed it. Terry was late, but that wasn't unusual with their line of work. For now, she could enjoy a moment of Gotham's rare times of peace. The early morning, where most villains were finishing their exploits and the general public were still asleep or only just waking up to their alarms.


	2. Scared Crows

Disclaimer: I own nothing and that's just fine by me. I wouldn't know what to do with all the money.

Okay, admittedly, a lot of these are going to be a little AU, especially when involving the Jokerz, but that's just the way my mind works. The odd pairings wouldn't work without a little AU-ness, anyway. Please enjoy, and remember that suggestions are most definitely helpful.

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_This is a power of Good against Evil,  
Of Right against Wrong,  
Of doing what you think is right, even when no one else will help you.  
-The Princess and the Goblin._

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**Poisoned Ivy:**

With a sudden feeling, like cinder blocks atop her shoulders, Melanie ducked beneath the counter and ignored the look her fellow waitresses gave her as they continued about their business and she tried to breath.

On the other side of the restaurant, the fancy part with few windows but plenty of trap lighting, was the blond haired girl's mother. She wasn't in her alt ego's clothing and was simply sitting alone, drinking appletinis and eating rose salad. For whatever reason, Melanie was sure that her mother certainly wasn't there to enjoy the food. The place was good, but it wasn't quite up to her parents' regal taste and preferences. So, that either meant her mother was there to see Melanie or she was there to meet one of her families "business" associates.

Carefully and hoping that in this bent over position her mother wouldn't notice her, Melanie stalked to the back kitchen, asked one of her fellow waitresses to cover for her, clocked out and once she grabbed her coat and reached the door, she paused and looked from one end of the block to the next.

Nobody she knew was in sight. Taking in another deep breath, the former Ten of the Royal Flush Gang put on her light jacket and ran as fast as she could to the subway, her heels causing her some pain, but all she could think about was getting as far away as possible as fast as she could. Despite her parents having been in jail for the last year, they most likely hadn't changed and she wasn't sticking around to have a little chat.

**Scared Crow:**

Sometimes, when the other Jokerz were in deep sleep and unable to hear her, (thank God) Deidre woke up in the wee hours of the morning, remembering things that felt so real but couldn't be. There were nightmares, bad ones, where she and her sister could make even more copies of themselves, where the rest of their group had even more peculiar abilities than they already had and there were only three new and old Justice League members fighting against them.

Those nightmares would have almost been like dreams, if only they didn't all end the same way. It wasn't always clear and she couldn't remember all of it, but what she could made her rush straight to the bathroom to empty her stomach. There were whips, there was Batman screaming in agony, there was her and Delia smiling sadistically, electricity firing through nerves (though she wasn't quite sure through who), the smell of smoked flesh… And then everything cut to black as she woke up screaming.

It is on those nights that Deidre feels most guilty and shameful for being one of the Jokerz and the urge to leave before anyone knows she is gone intensifies. But she won't go, not yet at least. Not until she convinces Delia to come with her or her twin is beyond her reach and starts acting completely like their grandfather.

**Riddle Me This:**

"No matter how hard you hit me, no matter how much I hurt, I'm always good for a laugh. What am I?"

Terry gave an exasperated grown, leaning back in the leather chair that should have been rather comfortable after all the years Bruce had spent sitting in it, but was far from comfortable in any way. He leaned back up to ruffle his hair and look at the aged hero, annoyance and fatigue showing.

"A Joker?" The young Dark Knight tried, cringing at the amused look that came across Wayne's features for a flicker of a second before settling back to patiently waiting.

"A child's toy? A mentally unsound psychiatric patient? Tickle-Me Elmo?"

Here, Bruce's face almost split open with the short noise that in an earlier life may have been a laugh but came out more of a suppressed cough. His back hunched a little from the action and Ace yipped from behind them, probably understanding what was happening. Wouldn't surprise Terry.

Bruce looked at the seemingly always lit computer screen and nodded at the entrance to the Bat Cave, "We'll save the rest of this lesson for another time. Go get some sleep."

**Coin Toss:**

"You know," J-Man chuckled, nuzzling into Delia's neck again and earning a wonderful moan from the clown girl, "I've been wondering lately how you keep coming here when I know your worthless bitch of a sister has a big problem with me."

"She's not my fuckin' keeper," Delia sighed, "She couldn't stop me from coming here if she tried. Nor the others for that matter."

"Hm, not even the snowbird?" J-Man asked with just the slightest hint of jealously that was well hidden as he nestled closer to the very naked girl in his stolen three-thousand dollar sheets.

Delia snorted and adjusted her wig, now slightly loose and out of place from the last few hours of screwing the less homicidal and therefore less attractive but still do-able New Clown Prince, "Ghoul's not a junkie, dearest. He just uses the expensive sun block and only walks around during the night. Hell, I don't even think he's used any form of narco. And no, he can't tell me what to either."

"Could have fooled me, the way you hang off of him when you're not at work."

"J-Man," Delia growled, annoyance obvious as she leaned in for a kiss and bit his lower lip, causing him to give a small yelp-slash-laugh, "Not that it's any of your business, since we agreed to see other people, but I haven't slept with him. He's a prude."

"What, is that girl-speak for gay?"

**Up North:**

Thick black feathered wings flapped heavily and Warhawk rose through the air like a bass in a river, trying and failing to ignore the snow pelting him as much as possible.

Growling and lightly picking some ice from his mace, Warhawk turned on his comm. link and heard the light beep that signaled his father was back on the line.

"_Rex? Are you almost to Gotham?"_

"Yeah, dad, I'd like to talk to you about that. Didn't you say the weather man said it was supposed to be sunny?"

"_Of course_," The voice on the other end spoke in offence, "_Otherwise I would have gotten Mr. Wayne to pick you up. Why_?"

Warhawk, still annoyed at the cold but unwilling to cause the Green Lantern to worry too much and cause his heart to strain, gave a little cough into the wind and muttered, "No reason. Call you when I get there. But, uh, could you get the new Batman to meet me at the train station? I… forgot where Mr. Wayne's house is."

**Pretty Kitty:**

Purring contentedly, Tigress leaned further into Ramrod's huge chest and wrapped his huge arms around her soft, naked stomach. The ripped sheets under them were still slightly wet from their previous hours of intimacy and she reveled in their scents that mingled in the air and clung to their clothing that they rarely wore inside the abandoned warehouse they'd claimed as their own two months ago.

"That was awesome," the horned splicer growled in his own little realm of content. They hadn't done anything like that since Batman changed them back into Norms and they'd changed back once they'd broken out of jail together. It was one of those evenings filled with relishing the other's raw power in their preferred forms.

"Mmm," Tigress moaned, "Said the bull to the tiger. I should be the one praising you. Those moves were different. In a good way though. You've been reading that book again, I'll bet."

**Sewer Rats:**

Spellbinder revved up his machines again as the three new teens he'd snared into his web of fantasies took the plunge into their own little worlds of loving families, fame, fortune and whatever other simplistic things children wanted in order to feel anything.

Behind his mask, he sneered as one of the teens, a blue haired one he vaguely recalled from his days as a teacher, attempted to straighten his currently weightless body and starting moving his lips in a poor attempt at a string of words the psychologist couldn't make out. When the action repeated, the rogue moved from his area at the controls and came close enough to the green sphere to tune into the words spilling from the young man—Donny, that was his name, right—repeatedly.

It was, Spellbinder supposed, a chorus from a song the boy had probably written himself. It was slurred from the virtual reality, but the master of all this could appreciate the meanings behind them. Obviously a victim of neglect, a runaway who daddy didn't care for very much and mommy tried to support but failed. Easy pickings for someone like Spellbinder.


	3. Snare in Silk

Disclaimer: Still don't own anything. My apologies if I disappoint.

Reviews and more importantly, suggestions, are very much appreciated, loved and taken well care of. Please leave me some, even if it's just to leave constructive criticism.

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_Don't know what's going on,  
Don't know what went wrong.  
Feels like a hundred years…  
I still can't believe you're gone.  
-Three Days Grace._

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**Hypnos:**

_Another long slash of ripped flesh formed under the scalpel in Joker's hand as the white skinned lunatic laughed even more maniacally. He had been doing this for hours that Tim had lost track of a day ago and yet he hadn't had neat enough fun torturing Robin._

Robin had given up screaming a while ago, and had simply settled for staying in a numbed haze as Joker whispered into his ear things that a boy his age should never hear. Suggested things that Robin shouldn't be contemplating. Making deals that Tim wanted more than anything to agree to, but that little piece inside of him kept saying that he couldn't do that to Bruce or Barbara.

And then Joker finally decided to take off the Boy Wonder's mask…

The bed that had become half soaked from Tim's sweating bounced under the man's weight as he woke up, breathing hard and shaking terribly. His wife wasn't in bed with him, thank God, but somehow he felt that she would have helped to calm him down. She was good for that after another episodic nightmare.

**Coronati:**

"I think some congratulations are in order," Warhawk said tetchily, arms still crossed and looking at Aquagirl with a sneer, "Your daddy finally gave you the crown, eh?"

With careful aim and despite her facing the opposite way, Merina summoned up the water from Gotham's one and only duck pond and tossed a ball of disgusting mud and other undesirables at the half-Thanagarian. He took one step to the left and the water ball flew past him, the smell making him gag and step a little further from where the water splashed to the sidewalk.

"Oh come on," Rex snorted, "You can do better than that, your highness."

"Gah!" Aquagirl screamed out into the dark, finally fed up with Warhawk's attitude. She spun on her heal and not thinking at all, too blinded by the indignity of all this, the Atlantian tackled the winged hero. Both of them fell backwards, right into the duck water, and she was horrified to hear Rex laugh out loud before both of them sunk under the water.

**Like Shattered Glass:**

Through his training with Wayne, Terry's first reaction at the sight of the short blond in the sweater and jeans was to tense up and prepare to fight for his life. But when the memory of neon lights and the other Jokerz chasing after him cooled, the Tomorrow Knight noted some big differences from the last time he saw the twins.

This one was alone, with himself and in his school's hallway where any kid could see them if they fought. That, and the fact that he could see a barrage of bruising along the side of her face covered by her hair, was the only reason he spoke first instead of tensing up further, "What do you want Dee Dee?"

"Don't call me that in public, McGinnis," Deidre hissed, eyes swerving around to be sure that there was nobody to hear them, including the tall brunette's girlfriend.

She had taken a big risk coming here, all by herself to talk to the new Batman out of uniform, but she had to do this before her sister got out of jail tonight and the her other gang members started wondering where she was. Hopefully, she thought as she fingered the envelopes her grandmother had given to her in her crossed arms and shaking hands, this had been the right decision.

"What do you want," Terry repeated, steel in his words.

Rolling her eyes and without further ado, Deidre held out the envelopes, hand shaking a little less as she looked away from him nervously, "Just give these to B-Man, B-Girl and the Bird Boys. No tricks. I'm just tying up loose ends for my dearly departed grandmother."

Terry gently took a hold of the yellowed and actually fairly heavy envelopes, each one having his mentor's, Barbara's and even Grayson and Drake's names written in clean print, but in differently colored ink. Bruce's and Tim's were newer and less faded than the other two, but they had still been written a while ago. Years even.

Looking back up, Gotham's new Batman blinked at the empty space Deidre had been in, hearing her heels clicking down the stairs that had been behind her and out of the school.

**Eques:**

The strange and admittedly hideous creature was much too big for a dog his size to handle, but Ace couldn't just let his Master's pup be eaten. He didn't like the brat, he'd been sure to make that plainly obvious from the first time they met and the Master was having chest pains, but after a while he found him to be…interesting company.

So, when some monstrosity had slammed the pup into the ground with so much force Ace was sure that the young one wasn't getting up again and then proceeded to try and force him into its mouth, Ace decided he'd waited long enough.

He bit the creature and it dropped the pup, his injured black clothed body rolling listlessly across the floor a ways. Ace was glad, even as he chewed at the horrible tasting flesh and when the creature knocked him to the side and tried to stab him. He did his job.

It came to him as a great shock when the pup woke up in time to return the favor, but he had a feeling they'd be doing that for each other a lot more often now.

**Snare in Silk:**

Hesitantly and rather bravely for being the only man thus far to ever even attempt entry into Deidre's room, Ghoul nudged the surprisingly heavy door to get a peek within at the occupant in the bed. What he saw was strange and made him suddenly regret coming inside.

Now, it was common knowledge how he slept, when and if he ever did; he woke up screaming his throat hoarse and in a cold sweat, always attracting the attentions of Woof, who came bounding into his room to check on his gangly friend. The others had enough sense to soundproof their own rooms after finding this out and there had been no real problems since. Chucko and Bonk snored like the average human male, but it didn't really bother Ghoul. Woof slept peacefully in his own room in a small heap and often made no noise. Delia… well, that really all depended on whatever guests she had come into her room for the night.

Of course, he only knew all these sleeping arrangements because they left their doors wide open sometimes and when he had to stretch his legs he'd often pass by and see it for himself.

Now that he was finally seeing how the younger twin slept, he realized why she kept such a heavy lock on her door and rarely, if ever, left it unlocked.

Long hair spilling over the bed covers in a way reminiscent of Sleeping Beauty, Deidre had all of her makeup washed off, was clutching her pillow to her chest almost painfully and most importantly, she was weeping sorrowfully in her sleep. Her tears had made the pillow noticeably damp and the tiny sobs that came up from her throat made her look even more pitiful.

Stepping carefully over the books that she had strewn around the room, Ghoul set himself onto the edge of the small girl's bed and like the breath of a ghost, set the tips of his fingers onto her shoulder. She continued to weep over something that was known only to herself and her nightmare, but after a second of him wondering what else he should do, instinct kicked in and he gently rubbed her shoulder.

The motion seemed to help her and he enjoyed the smoothness of her skin against his as he waited for her sobs to abate. After five minutes, the sobs ceased and all that was left were tears on her pillow and on her blanket. She still shook noticeably, but he couldn't fix everything.

Still, after leaving the room, he kind of wished there was more he could do.

**Pelo:**

Jack Walker was always considered a black sheep, even when he was little, before his parents had started training him to be a world class thief. Not only because he was too loud and too jovial and too loving to be a pure psychopath like his parents, but because, amazingly, he didn't look much like anyone in the family.

This was probably the only thing his parents really fought about besides money. He father was sure that his Queen had slept with another man and birthed Jack, but Mrs. Walker was always adamant that he was both of their flesh and blood. Jack often wondered why they hadn't just gotten a paternity test when he was young, but over the years, he figured it out.

If the King was proven wrong, then he would have to disown the boy and they'd have to start all over looking for a Jack in the Flush. And if the Queen was telling the truth, she'd never let her husband live it down.

Jack had black hair, though both of his parents had very light hair. His figure was not hard to maintain and the King and Queen had to train almost every day to maintain theirs. And his eyes were black, but not like his father's because there was a hint of brown.

He could probably list a few hundred more things that made him too different to ever be his father's biological son, but he'd long ago decided that he didn't care. Either way was fine with him.


	4. Mew

Disclaimer: Still don't own Batman Beyond. Never will. Sob.

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**River Rapids:**

It was so gross… the little bass was flailing so hard in Warhawk's hands that its skin was coming off on his nails and palms. Its tail, with its thorny siding and blade-like sharpness had cut near his wrists and, really, Rex was starting to wonder why he had said yes to Terry's offer of an all man's weekend.

Snapping the creature's neck with his thumbs, Rex tossed it behind him and heard the tell-tale sound of scale hitting an open hand. Turning, he barely caught himself from the grime and mud under his feet and gave the blue eyed young man a withering glare, "What do you see in all of this?"

"What," Terry asked almost innocently, "Communing with nature?"

"That and the insect bites, the sleeping on the ground, the catching of our own food, the drinking from water from the waterfalls, the pure insanity of all this considering you're from one of the most high-tech places on the planet and not even minding anything!"

The blues eyes Rex decided looked way too innocent for a Dark Knight lit up with Terry's smile and he simply stuck the fish on another cut and cleaned pine stick and moved it to a position over the fire he'd started four hours ago when McGinnis had decided they would rest near the stream (containing even more blood sucking insects) for the night.

A few seconds passed between them only permeated by the sounds of black crickets in the trees surrounding them and when Terry just seemed to continue ignoring the half-Thanagarian, Rex gave a huff (not so different from his father's) and waded back onto the land. And when his foot just barely settled on a solid looking stone, it slipped out from its spot and sent him into a spin and face first into the water.

**Barbital:**

"Oh…oh that hurts…"

Blood pooled into her eye from the very painful, wide cut on her forehead as Deidre came into consciousness from where she had been lying behind the dumpster for the past few hours. Her yarn wig was long gone from J-Man and Delia's maltreatment of the younger twin and her once gorgeous blond hair, now matted by blood and alley grit, was sticking inside the other open cuts along her arms and stomach and starting to cause a burning sensation.

Trying to get up from her sprawled position on the ground (_complete with gravel and broken glass_, she thought cynically) was perhaps a very stupid idea as her stomach turned and some vomit, less than a mouthful thank god, came up and decorated the ground before her hands. Some of her ribs were cracked again, so she slowly leaned up and, trying not to breathe in the slightest, stood up on her feet, hands pressed against her cut up knees to keep her balance.

Why, for the love of God, couldn't she just keep her opinion to herself? One would think that after all the times she said something that annoyed her sister or said something involving doubt in one of their plans and got the crap kicked out of her, she would learn her lesson, but _noooo_. It wouldn't even be that hard to do, but she didn't like the way the two of them abused the others or how they ripped into Batman. It wasn't…

Next time, if she survived the walk back to the hideout, she would mentally kick herself if she even started to think about questioning her sister's obvious authority.

**Roller Coaster Central:**

Catching his breath and holding onto it, Kai felt a gentle jolt of adrenaline spike through his system and leave just as suddenly as he hit the water and sunk.

The water overtook him quickly and he let out a small bubble of air in surprise. The round ball of oxygen flew above his perfectly round head like a mystic entity and even though the water blurred his vision, once it hit the surface it blossomed the water's surface and he felt a small smile form on his features. He was old for a child his age, but even he could appreciate the colors and acts of things around him like a psychiatrist appreciates ink blots in his den before welcoming in another patient.

**Mew:**

Tiny, crystalline blue eyes stared up unblinkingly at Merina. Small rumblings started off again in its chest, like the rhythm of a washing machine, and the fuzzy, sweet, scrumptious little stray kitten stood on its hind legs and lightly batted her cheeks, trying to paw the loose strands of hair about her face.

The Atlantean princess gave a very undignified, high-pitched squeal and picked the little thing up from the table, causing Rex to take one giant step back. Don't get her wrong, she loved the creatures of her oceans, but there was something about holding a purely innocent land mammal when it was so small that brought out her more feminine, motherly aspects.

Rex, for his part, remained forgotten in the doorway as Merina cuddled and cooed over the pet he'd brought her from the shelter for her birthday.


End file.
